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Commentary |
Started
July, 2009 |
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"Laws should be constructed so as to leave as little as
possible to the decision of those who judge"
~
Aristotle |
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Related Issues |
Resources |
Relative
Links |
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"You Can't Legislate Morality" |
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action
according to our will within limits drawn around
us by the equal rights of others. I do not add
'within the limits of the law', because law is
often but the tyrant's will, and always so when
it violates the rights of the individual."
~
Thomas Jefferson
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America." |
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"Laws should be constructed so as to leave as little as
possible to the decision of those who judge"
~
Aristotle |
| Definition #1 Morality could be considered a moral
code, universal to all cultures and peoples, regardless
of conditioning or custom. A morality of simple
behavior widely accepted by all cultures. Excepting
obvious extremes, like cannibalism. Murder is wrong.
Theft is wrong. Etc.
Definition #2
Another widely accepted definition of morality in
this country is the morality of the bible, especially
passages cherry-picked from the Old Testament. |
| In essence the government of a free society bans
only one action--the initiation of physical force--precisely
because force prevents an individual from following the
judgment of his mind. The government of a free society
does not seek to control its citizens' thoughts by, say,
jailing homosexuals or hypocrites. Its function is to
stop other people from violating one's rights, not to
force them to be good--which is a contradiction in
terms. |
"Just as it is the duty of all men to obey just
laws, so it is the duty of all men to disobey
unjust laws"
~
Martin Luther King Jr.
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"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only
power government has is the power to crack down
on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough
criminals, one makes them. One declares so many
things to be a crime that it becomes impossible
for men to live without breaking laws."
~
Ayn Rand
in Atlas Shrugged (1957)
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| “In the End, we will
remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence
of our friends” ~
Martin Luther
King Jr. |
I believe in small government, fiscal
conservativeness, and individual and state freedoms.
I have a hard time with social conservativeness. I have
a problem with groups using government to legislate
"their" morality. I don't think it is the Federal
governments business to legislate morality.
The liberals use government to legislate their life
style. The Religious right does the same. Where does it
end. The country goes to crap while we fight a cultural
war that will never end. Our founding Fathers wanted
individual freedom to let everyone live their own life.
So is social conservatism dead??? Do we move back to
Paleo Conservatism??? Or do we restock and launch
another offensive???
It is my hope that The Religious Right Agenda is purged
from the Republican party and we get back to basics.
Either that or Republican leave the party in droves and
go to the Libertarian party and let the GOP be the
"Moral Minority". |
A Pace
University
professor
spoke on the
dangers of
religion and
the
importance
of
objectivity
at Seeley G.
Mudd
Wednesday
night as
part of a
talk about
religion
versus
morality.
About 80
people
attended the
event.
"Religion is
hazardous to
your
health,"
said Andrew
Bernstein, a
philosophy
professor
who has
worked for
the Ayn Rand
Institute.
The USC
Objectivist
Club, the
Academic
Honors
Assembly and
other
organizations
sponsored
the event.
Bernstein
argued
against the
concept that
a code of
right and
wrong can
only exist
within
religion.
Religion is
a
subcategory
of
philosophy,
Bernstein
said, and
then
provided a
definition
of religion.
"Religion is
a
philosophical
system based
in faith,
not reason,
upholding
the
existence of
supremacy of
a
transcendent
God who
requires
unquestionable
obedience of
his human,
sinful
subjects he
created and
governs," he
said.
He explained
religion
clashes with
ethics and
provided
examples
through
metaphysics,
epistemology,
human
nature,
ethics and
politics.
The argument
is not
between
religion and
secularism,
rather
between
rationality
and
irrationality,
he said.
Bernstein
gave an
example of
how some
children die
of diabetes
because
their
parents
ascribe to
faith
healing.
Those
parents are
committing
murder and
should be
prosecuted,
he said.
Bernstein
also
addressed
the question
of what
makes the
enhancement
of life is
important.
Values must
be achieved
and not
denunciated
to enhance
life, he
said.
"Life
requires the
attainment
of values
and not
their
sacrifice or
their
surrender,"
he said.
|
Discuss
Helpful Links:
"The statement, 'You can't legislate morality,' is a
dangerous half-truth and even a lie, because all
legislation is concerned with morality. Every law on the
statute books of every civil government is either an
example of enacted morality or it is procedural
thereto."
Can We Legislate Morality?
"...can you legislate morality? Of course you can. Our
laws legislate morality every day. The question is not
if morality can be legislated but whose morality will be
legislated?"
You Can't Legislate Morality. Or Can You?
"...the government's function is not to become the
thought police, charged with ensuring that citizens act
on correct ideas. The government's function is only to
stop an individual from taking action (e.g., murder)
that violates the rights of other individuals. It means
that the absolute moral principles at the foundation of
a free society preclude the government from becoming
policeman of morality."
Thought Control: Government Should Not Have the Power to
Legislate Morality
"I feel we have no right to legislate morality. After
all, a person's concept of morality is dependent upon
their own moral and religious beliefs and the United
States was founded on the principles of freedom and
liberty for all, regardless of religion."
Don't Legislate Morality |
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"Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. That
is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality,
namely, that
good
consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life,
and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are
evil."
~
Albert Schweitzer |
For a Better
Informed & Involved Public...
Lonnie J. Burris
Activist &
Concerned Citizen
|
"Morality cannot be
legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not
change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless."
◊
Martin Luther King Jr. |
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